Stephen Chan Chi-wan arrives at District Court to hear his verdict on Thursday. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

A judge on Thursday maintained his previous decision to acquit former TVB general manager Stephen Chan Chi-wan and his former assistant of bribery charges over show payments.

The ruling was the result of a two-day hearing that was held after the Court of Appeal sent back the case to District Court Judge Poon Siu-tung.

Poon, who was asked to reconsider his earlier decision to acquit the pair in 2011, maintained that Chan and Edthancy Tseng Pei-kun had reasonable defence against the charges.

In his new verdict on Thursday, Poon said the case was different from a corruption case because Chan made no attempts to hide the earnings and the money could not be regarded as secretive paybacks.

The charges referred to Chan and his former assistant Tseng receiving HK$112,000 for a new year’s eve TV special in 2009 and not telling his employer.

The show in question was held at Kowloon’s Olympian City mall. Chan was paid through a company run by Tseng, the court heard.

Poon said the show was aired by TVB and several of its departments took part in its production. He said it was reasonable to believe that Chan received tacit approval from TVB to get paid for the show.

Chan is now a senior executive at Hong Kong private broadcaster Commercial Radio. He is also known for hosting talk shows and interviews with local celebrities.